Transit officials and planners from Dallas visit Metro to learn more about bus rapid transit

Metro welcomed a contingent of officials and planners on Friday from DART, i.e. Dallas Area Rapid Transit, and the Dallas metro area. The above photo was taken on the roof of Metro’s headquarters in downtown Los Angeles.

The folks from DART were in town to learn more about Metro’s existing and future bus rapid transit lines, including the Orange Line, the Wilshire peak hour bus lanes (expected to fully open later this year) and studies under way for a possible BRT line on Vermont Avenue, one of Metro’s busiest bus corridors. They also met with Metro CEO Art Leahy.

On behalf of Metro, a big thank you to our visitors from Dallas for their interest in Metro’s programs and for taking the time to visit.

Sure hope they don’t show them the Orange Bus line, It is over capacity, takes twice as long as a LRT would take, the interior cabin of the bus is small, cramped and rough riding and there is no more room for more riders. The Silver Bus line on the Harbor freeway carries a 10th the riders of the near by Blue Rail Line. The Wilshire bus line carries at capacity, but that is only because there is no rail line in that corridor, With the opening of the Expo rail line 5 miles away will take many riders form the bus. So the rapid or BRT is only a poor substitute for a rail line,

Why all the hype about the new Rapid Bus lanes on Wilshire Bl. They tried it before and abandoned the idea. And why such a long wait and expensive implementation. How much can it cost to paint exclusive lanes on the street and post signs?

The work is being done by the city of Los Angeles. In some sections of Wilshire, the curb lane and sidewalk needed to be reconstructed, thus the explanation for some of the delay. It also took quite some time for work to get started.

Wilshire Blvd is one of the worst streets to travel, unless of course you’re in the 1% that only uses Wilshire in the Rodeo Drive area.

Back in 2003, I would drive down Wilshire every day to work, from the K-town area to the Miracle Mile area. But I became annoyed at all the potholes and uneven pavement. Eventually, I did whatever I could to avoid it by taking alternative streets, even if it made my commute longer.

I tried taking the bus, but didn’t comfortably enjoy feeling the vibration of all the potholes the drivers ran over. It makes me feel bad for all those physically disabled who have no choice but to endure the stress on their bodies as a result of the uneven street.

Surprisingly, just last month, I found myself driving back in the same area, along the same old route, and the street was just the same!

Wilshire Bl. is by far the worst maintained street in Los Angeles. Not only are there pot holes but sections where the asphalt has risen up and over the curb on to the sidewalk. In all the years I worked for the RTD/MTA I can not recall the street ever being repaved. The only work as I recall was piecemeal It’s my belief that with all the MTA buses and other buses and trucks the street has just failed. Another layer of asphalt will not provide a permanent fix, only a temporary one. It needs to be completely ripped up, a new sub layer added consisting of crushed rock or something similar and then repaved. Although more expensive to both pave the street and to maintain concrete should be considered.